A world of anime comes to Abilene

A three-day celebration of anime, Asian culture, cosplay and gaming begins Friday with "Anime Sekai" at the Abilene Convention Center.

With "sekai" meaning "world" in Japanese, the convention promises to immerse participants in anime culture, art, music and fashion.

The event, which is being billed as Abilene's first anime and gaming convention, will feature a variety of live performances, panels, contests and game tournaments, as well as more than 50 vendors and exhibitors.

The convention will be open from 1-11:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit hall will close at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

"Sailor Moon" is a longtime anime series that *still* has fans around the world.(Photo: HULU.COM/SAILOR-MOON)

Panels will include discussions of anime monsters and trivia, beginner and advanced cosplay tips and tricks, meet and greets with the featured guests and anime bingo. At 9 p.m. Saturday, fans of "Dragon Ball Z" will face off against "Sailor Moon" fans in an open-mic roast, with "Naruto" and "One Piece" fans taking shots at each other at noon Sunday.

The Straw Hat Pirates in a scene from "One Piece Gold"(Photo: Funimation)

Other featured events Saturday include an instrumental music contest at 2 p.m., concerts by Whitney Rodgers and DEACONRAP at 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., respectively, and a cosplay contest at 7 p.m. A cosplay dating game, for ages 18 and up, will begin at 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Registration for the music contest will be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, with cosplay contest registration open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

A variety of tabletop and video game tournaments will be conducted each day, starting at 5 p.m. Friday with "Shadowrun" and "Mario Kart Wii U," followed by "Injustice 2," "Blaz Blue Cross Tag Battle" and "Tekken 7."

Saturday's gaming will begin at noon with "Pokémon" and "Bomberman R," followed by "Street Fighter 5," "Magic: The Gathering," "Smash Bros Wii U," "Dungeons & Dragons," Dragon Ball FighterZ" and "Puyo Puyo Tetris." Sunday's games start with "Halo: Combat Evolved" at noon, followed by "Yu-Gi-Oh!," "Super Mario Kart" and "Dragon Ball Super." Registration for all game tournaments will be done one hour in advance.

Dragon Ball FighterZ for PS4 and Xbox One.(Photo: Bandai Namco)

Three-day passes are $30, and Saturday-only passes are $20. Tickets will be sold at the door, and are also available at eventbrite.com. Admission is free to children age 6 and under, as well as to college students with college ID.